Sturgis may sell electricity to reduce regional load

The city of Sturgis No. 6 Diesel generator is ready to produce energy, which the city can sell through a program commissioners recently approved.

By Rosalie Currierrcurrier@sturgisjournal.com

The city of Sturgis No. 6 Diesel generator is ready to produce energy, which the city can sell through a program commissioners recently approved.Power generated by the No. 6 diesel generator may be used locally, but can also be sold to PJM Interconnection LLC, (the acronym stands for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.)Understanding how electricity is sold in the U.S. is about as complex as understanding electricity itself. John Griffith, superintendent of the Sturgis Electric Department, said the country is divided into several regions, one of which is PJM. “American Electric Power operates in the PJM footprint,” Griffith said. “Indiana Michigan Electric Company is one of AEP’s regional operating companies and supplies the city of Sturgis.”Going back up that ladder, power generated in Sturgis would reduce PJM’s load, but the process has a few more steps.One step is computer equipment and software —Vedero Software. Adam Schuster of Vedero said the equipment and software is designed to monitor output of power — specific to Sturgis, the output of diesel generator No. 6. Through two-way communication, Vedero could notify the city when PJM needed additional power. The generator would produce power, Vedero would track how much was generated, then send the information to PJM, which would pay the city for the power.Another piece in the puzzle is Comverge, a curtailment service provider — an agent representing multiple energy providers to companies such as PJM. Comverge reduces risk to the city of Sturgis.Robert Warner of Comverge, assured commissioners that this agreement to provide energy to PJM is safe. Under no circumstance would the city of Sturgis incur out-of-pocket expenses, Warner said.Strange as it sounds, without the proper support, an energy generator could incur charges for creating energy for another company’s use, Griffith said.This agreement is for emergency situations PJM might face, Warner said, such as a heat event, a brownout or blackout.The city can anticipate bringing in $130,000 over the next three years, Warner said.It is an opportunity the city has been considering since 2005, Griffith said. Because of the opportunity to sell power, No. 6 — the last of six diesel generators owned by the city —was recently upgraded.As for the five other diesel generators, Griffith said No. 3 was removed because it was damaged and the cost of repair exceeded the value. “Units 1 and 2 are still in the plant and operational, but the transformer that connected them to the system failed and was removed,” he said. “Units 4 and 5 were scrapped.”